Top 10 Teas For Green Tea Honey

by Natasha Nesic
When this honey gets combined with a green tea, you get to reap the benefits— not to mention the delicious flavor profile! — of two powerful ingredients.


Green tea is a unique set of tastes, textures, and smells. It can be grassy, veggie, bitter, sweet, salty, fragrant, fruity, floral, or even outright ashy if prepared with a poor hand for procedure! (180 degree Fahrenheit water is essential, please! Keep it under-boiling so that you don’t burn the leaves.) The reason for its transient nature is because unlike black tea, green tea is only partially oxidized.

However, that wide array of flavor possibilities present an even wider array of possible teas to pair it with Green Tea Honey. It's a Goldenrod Honey that is characterized by its own fragrant floral accents. Also find it in this sampler set.

Here are my Top Ten green Adagio Teas favorites to pair with Green Tea Honey!

1. Jasmine Phoenix Pearls

There’s just something magical about this one. Whether it’s the overlying aroma of jasmine — which was historically used as an aphrodisiac by many cultures — or the way the individual tea-pearls unfurl so gently in the cup, you can’t help but wonder what would happen if those tiny leaves were really tiny dragons swirling in the current against your teaspoon. Adorable! It’s extra magic with the sweetness of the floral honey to speak to the jasmine aspects.

2. Dragonwell

Speaking of dragons, well— let’s talk about Dragonwell! This is one of the best teas to teach you about how Chinese green teas like to be treated in preparation. If you steep it for too long, or with too-hot water, then you’ll definitely have woken one very bitter dragon! (Steep it with simmering water and just for a few minutes, and it’s the gentlest spirit of health and happiness.) That’s why the Green Tea Honey is so helpful in taming it.

3. Sencha Premier

If we were just introduced to a Chinese dragon in the previous cup, then you’ll want your Green Tea Honey on hand as backup for encountering this mythical beast from the Land of the Rising Sun. Sencha is a rowdy fellow that arrives bold and beautiful with the forgiveness of a few extra minutes or degrees gone awry in the steeping process, but don’t count too hard on its favor if you let it go for an hour while your attention wanders to something less dragon-filled…

4. Gyokuro

Unless your attention is captured by Gyokuro, however! This tea is a regal, majestic example of a truly fine Japanese green, and it merits all the praise that you can lavish upon it. It’s often so lush and fragrant by itself that you don’t need a whole lot of honey to get the most out of it, either. And keep the steeping easy and respectful, with a light temperature and fewer minutes.

5. Gunpowder

Luckily though, Gunpowder can take a hit. This is a tea where you can relax a little more on whether or not you get the steeping perfect. Just roll with those rolled-up leaf punches, and enjoy the barrage of smoke and flavor. Add as much or as little honey as you feel it needs, depending on your mood and preferences.

6. Jasmine Yin Hao

If you find yourself craving more garlands of jasmine after the first example, then you need to put this on your list. Jasmine Yin Hao has a delicacy that plays incredibly well with the floral flavors of Adagio’s Green Tea Honey, but you have to steep for yourself to experience it! Use as light a hand as you would for the Jasmine Dragon Pearls or Gyokuro, when preparing it.

7. Sleeping Dragon

So, what’s the difference between this dragon and all the others we’ve encountered so far? Character. Sleeping Dragon is a Chinese green that has enough of a sense of humor that you can get away with oversteeping it by a minute or two, but it’s got enough self-respect that you still wouldn’t want to overdo it with too-hot boiling water. The Green Tea Honey brings out its brighter fruit nuances if you’re subtle and patient with it; just a few drops go a long way.

8. Jasmine Chun Hao

If you were wondering if it’s at all possible to ever have too much jasmine, the answer is no. There is never too much jasmine. And having another option in the form of Jasmine Chun Hao is proof of it. You’ll want to play around with how much honey to add to keep the jasmine essence while bringing out the sweetness that this tea is capable of— steep it as gently as the other Jasmine Dragons, and you’ll reap the delicious rewards.

9. Kukicha

Leave it to the next-to-last tea to be one of the best outliers of the group! Kukicha is such a light-hearted tea that you can’t help but have fun with it. It definitely takes well to as much Green Tea Honey as you desire, and it’ll never say no to a little extra sweetness because its own chestnut and sesame notes are so subtle. It likes having friends! Steep with the same ease as a Sencha.

10. Hojicha

We had to have one roasted green tea on the list, just to balance out the epic greenery above. Hojicha is such a comfort-food kind of tea that it lends itself so well to Green Tea Honey in any amount, and you can steep it almost as easily as a black without too much fear of burning, since the leaves have already undergone heat while being processed.

Which are your favorite greens to sweeten?